Memories from an unlikely author

Milford Klaassen isn?t your typical author. In fact, before he passed away Jan. 21, 2013, at age 61 from flu complications, few knew he was writing a book.

During his lifetime, Milford was known in the Hillsboro community as a school bus driver, farmer, owner of JAMM mowing business for 24 years, and earlier as a good student-athlete at Hillsboro High School and Tabor College.

He probably would say of much greater importance was his devotion to God, his church family at Parkview and his wife and two children.

Milford had a wry sense of humor. He could say something with a straight face and have you in stitches.

I don?t know when he was inspired to start writing stories about his life experiences, but I?m glad he did. From what I understand, he wrote while attending local high school track meets, other sporting events and field trips; waiting to drive the student-athletes back to Hillsboro.

The book left a tremendous legacy and memories for his wife, Janell; daughter, Angie; and son, Michael.

He wrote about the early years of his life, chores, high school, college life, college sports, his dad (who died unexpectedly when Milford was only a sophomore at Tabor), and much more.

It is rare for someone in circumstances like Milford to begin writing his life story before retirement. One wonders whether losing his own father too soon was a motivation for what and when he wrote.

After Milford?s death, his family took his writings and finished the book, ?Untitled: The Autobiography of Milford Wayne Klaassen.?

The foreword explains why Milford wrote the book: ?I am not writing these stories to brag about my life or what I have done. Although I hope these stories are found interesting and amusing.

?I have not done anything earth shattering or anything to make me famous, but just by being who I am and what I?ve done have touched or made a difference in their lives in some way. I have worked with a lot of kids and people over the years, and I hope I have had a positive influence on them just by knowing them and hopefully guiding them in positive directions rather than negative ones.

?I also hope that someday my kids could read this and say maybe Dad wasn?t as boring as we thought he was.

?Also, as I have become older, I have wished that we had more life experiences from my parents and grandparents. I actually find that some of these daily life experiences are interesting and we can learn from them.

?I?m sure this will not be a best seller, and may not ever get finished. But someday somebody will say, hey cool, I didn?t know he did that.?

Milford shares many stories, including memories of the Hillsboro-Marion football rivalry, his track and field experience in shot put and discus, and playing football at Tabor.

I love what he wrote about a challenging class he took at Tabor from long-time biology teacher Sol Loewen. Milford writes: ?On my final in that class, I was the last one in the room, and finally gave up. I took it to him and said I didn?t think I did very well.

?He said, ?Let?s find out,? and graded it right away. I didn?t do very well, but he thanked me for not ever missing class and putting in good effort, and passed me. So it does pay to make a strong effort even if it is something you don?t like. Good effort usually pays off.?

Milford acknowledges that sports were the main reason he went to college in the beginning. He enjoyed football, but didn?t care for practices because he had a lot of other family responsibilities after his dad passed away.

In 1972, Don Wipf, former editor of the Hillsboro Star-Journal, wrote a story titled, ?Let performance speak.? Wipf wrote that Milford ?doesn?t make a lot of noise, but he is a steady, quiet leader on the Tabor College football team.

?He exemplifies the philosophy of letting his performance speak for him. And it?s spoken of this Tabor senior.?

One of Milford?s football coaches at Tabor, Ken Graber, said, ?He?s (Milford) dependable, a hard worker and will give 100 percent all of the time.?

Indeed he did, even in writing his autobiography.

For a downloadable copy of the book should go to http://issuu.com/mikeklaassen/docs/full_book_1-28-13. If you have questions, contact michaelwklaassen@?gmail.com

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